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A Line Demarcating

Greenwich Villageby Kevin Yang-Cheng Chien

Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Architecture

Approved:

Frank Weiner, chair ___________________________________

William Galloway ___________________________________

Pia Sarpaneva ___________________________________

April, 1997 Blacksburg, Virginia

Keyword: Line, Demarcate, Conceptual, Consciousness

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a“How can man withdraw himselffrom the field....he will mark off aportion of this field by means ofwalls .”

1

The trail of the artifact is an anonymous line on a tourist map of Man-hattan. It delimits the boundary, separates the inner and outer, andoccupies space. This occupied space juxtaposing the edge of Green-wich Village is an invisible and a undetermined line in the city. Archi-tecture is the result of thinking of object as act, as transformation, andas invention. The project searches, explores, and makes this linepresent.

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abstrac t

2

"Intellectualism does not talk about the senses becausefor it sensations and senses appear only when I turnback to the concrete act of knowledge in order to ana-lyze it. I then distinguish in it a contingent matter and anecessary form, but matter is an unreal phase and not aseparate element of the total act. Therefore there arenot the senses, but only consciousness."

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7

Greenwich VillageNew York, 1996

E. 14th St.

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Washingston Sq.

4

"A city without walls is not a city", the city wall defines a par-ticular place. It separates and connects the inside and out-side, man and nature. It is the symbol of a city. During thedevelopment and the expansion of the city, the city wall even-tually disappears in the urban fabric. One can only perceive itfrom the historical map. What we see is not what we think itwas. It is essential for us to be aware of a wall's unique exist-ence in space to develop a consciousness of perception.

Changing phases of a city wall

5

"A map is made so we can find our way fromone place to another whether in nature or in themind... Maps record there visible and invisiblepaths which are created by various kinds oftouching."

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1

Footprint of the boundary line

7

How can one sense the appearance of the wandering line in thecity? It, just like the hunter, follows the trail of the animal in thewoods. Only the mark can tell its existence.The blocks hosting the line are the marks on the map, each onehas been conditioned by the setting of building pattern and innerspace of the city blocks. While the boundary separates them intotwo different parts, the inside one becomes the anchor of theline. One cannot exist without the other.

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void

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If the cavern attracts one's adventure, the odd shapeof the inner court reminds one of the mystery of theunknown.

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Extrusion of the inner court

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If we examine things in different ways, we will under-stand more than what is just on the surface.The invisible line superimposes on the city and carvesout a slot of the background. The void is the evidenceof its existence and the whole as a negative makes apositive image.

12

"A visible manifestation of an invisible nothing" -John Cage, the void of the line.

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New Edge of Greenwich Village

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16

Architecture Line

17

Wind Line

The formation of the line varies in different contexts; it repre-sents the conditions it holds. Each element shares a similar lan-guage, therefore it can be identified in a complex environment.One fragment of the line, as the trigger, recalls one of the others,consequently forming a perception of the continuity of the line.

These diagrams indicate how the boundary interacts with eachblock. All three categories represent the total condition of theline. The bold line is the detour of the original boundary. It con-nects two critical points that form the gate to the block, and alsoprovides the potential sites of this project.

I.

II.

III.

18

"The act of finding out what something is like meansthat we give it a shape, propose for it a model or animage that will organize what seems on the surfacemerely an incoherent array of phenomena."

An architectural transformation is based on the inter-action of the human mind with the physical world.

5

"Architects can propose a concept and then demonstrateit in the same way in which a mathematician can dem-onstrate a theorem, one must demonstrate that it isapplicable. And the more general the theorem, the moreinfluential it becomes."

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11

The erect glass walls represent theplace and make identification and ori-entation possible.

21

Glass walls act as the unifying linkbetween inside and outside and ex-press the fundamental quality of be-ing within the city blocks.

22

The act of inserting elements into a place does not simply sepa-rate space but defines space within these elements. At the sametime, the infill objects indirectly delimit a line of Greenwich Village'sboundary that brings orientation and locality to the city. Its dis-continuity gives an identity to each individual part that associ-ates it with its context. As Norberg-Schulz said, "identificationand orientation are primary aspects of man's being-in-the-world."Furthermore, the transparency and reflection of the material re-call what is in the past and in the future.

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Glass wall on the corner

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Glass wall within the block

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Typical wall section Typical wall detail

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The conclusion of a project is an inevitable situa-tion that formulates a notion of the self which existsonly in a moment of externality.

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biblio g

graphy

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1 Richard Long: Walking in Circles New York: George Braziller, 1991

Dusseldorf, Richter Verlag Richard Serra: Props Germany: Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum Duisburg, 1994

Fuchs, R. H. Richard Long New York: Thames & Hudson Inc., 1986

Gandelsonas, Mario The Urban Text Chicago: A Chicago Institute for Architecture and Urbanism Book, 1991

5 Krauss, Rosalind E. Passages in Modern Sculpture Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1981

Kostof, Spiro The City Assembled London: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1992

7 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice Phenomenology of Perception London: Routledge, 1989

Meyer, Ursula Conceptual Art New York: E. P. Dutton & Co, Inc., 1972

9 Norberg-Schulz, Christian The Concept of Dwelling New York: Rizzoli International Publications Inc., 1985

Tschumi, Bernard Cinegram Folie Princeton, New Jersey: The Princeton Press, 1987

11 Tschumi, Bernard Any: "Modes of Inscription" New York: Any Co., 1993

Whitford, Frank Understanding Abstract Art New York: E. P. Dutton & Co, Inc., 1987

photo g

graphs

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1 Gunnar Hoydal: arkitektur DK: 6-7 1995, p306

5 Spirio Kostof: The City Assembled, p34-35

6L Richard Long: A Line in Ireland, 1974

6R Steven Holl: Edge of A City, p36

13 Sanborn map of Manhattan, ca. 1910

17 Richand Long: Wind Line, 1989

19 Whitney Museum of American Art: The Power of The City/ City of Power, cover

26 William Starr Miller Residence: The Heritage of New York, p240

27 First Presbyterian Church: The Heritage of New York, p88

29 Richard Serra: Stacked Steel Slabs, 1969

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vitaeMaster of Architecture , 1994-1997Virginia Polytechnic & State University

Bachelor of Architecture , 1991-1994University of Southwestern Louisiana

Diploma of Architectural Engineering , 1981-1987China College of Commercial & Industrial ManagementTaipei, Taiwan

Intern , Summer, 1995RTKL Associates Inc., Los Angeles

Architecture Historical Survey , Fall, 1993USL

Intern Architect , 1989-1990Huang, Yu-Cheng Architect & Associates

Intern , Summer, 1983Sea-Land Construction Co.

Graduate teaching assistance , 1995.1-1996.5Virginia Tech

36

Thanks

Frank WeinerPia SarpanevaWilliam GallowayRong ZhangJoseph WangRobert BussHeiner SchnoedtUte Conenand my parents